News

6:54 am

Fri July 18, 2014

Layoffs Planned At Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Project

The contractor leading the decontamination and decommissioning work at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon anticipates up to 675 people will be laid off beginning in October because of problems related to project funding.

Fluor-B&W Portsmouth has notified employees and the state about the potential layoffs. The plant produced enriched uranium until 2001. 19 hundred people are working on the cleanup project. The contractor and the U.S. Department of Energy say uranium transfers fund much of the project but uranium prices have dropped. They say the proposed federal budget appropriation for the upcoming fiscal year would not make up for the decrease.